Incontinence diaper for adults

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to disposable incontinence diapers for adults, comprising a front area ( 6 ), rear area ( 4 ) and a center area ( 8 ) which comes to rest in the crotch area of the user, also comprising mechanically or adhesively acting closure means ( 24, 26 ) which are arranged in side sections ( 22, 24 ), especially on longitudinal edge sections ( 19, 20 ) of the rear area ( 4 ) or the front area ( 6 ), and which cooperate with each other in an adhesive manner in order to close the diapers ( 2 ) with the aid of an impact section ( 32, 34 ) on the front area ( 6 ) or rear area ( 4 ). At least two closure means ( 24, 26 ) are provided on each respective side section ( 22, 24 ) or longitudinal edge section ( 18, 20 ) and are distanced from each other in a longitudinal direction ( 30 ) in order to adapt the diapers in a more effective manner to the actual requirements made thereof. The invention is characterized in that the respective closure means ( 26 ) which is located further away from the edge of the hip ( 16 ) and the impact section ( 34 ) associated therewith are configured in such a way that the adhesive connection, beginning with the closed state of the diapers, only becomes detached when the force is higher than that of the adhesive connection of the closure means ( 24 ) located nearer to the edge of the hip ( 16 ) and the impact section ( 32 ) associated therewith.

The invention concerns a disposable incontinence diaper for adults,comprising a front area, a rear area and a center area which is disposedin a longitudinal direction therebetween, and comes to rest in thecrotch region of the user, and with mechanically or adhesively effectiveclosing means which are disposed on side sections, in particular, onlongitudinal edge sections of the rear area or the front area toadhesively interact with an impact section at the front area or reararea, wherein at least two closing means are provided on a respectiveside section or longitudinal edge section, which are separated from eachother in the longitudinal direction.

A diaper of this type is described in EP 0 000 969 B1. U.S. Pat. No.4,209,016 also discloses a diaper comprising closing means which areeither separated or can be separated such that, in addition to theprimary closing function provided by a tape strip disposed close to thehip edge, a second tape strip can be positioned below the first tapestrip to exercise additional tensile forces for improved seating of thediaper on the body of the user.

WO 00/37005 also discloses an incontinence diaper of this type with atleast three closing means on both sides.

It is the underlying purpose of the present invention to improve adisposable incontinence diaper of this type to enhance its adaptation tostresses in the closing area which occur during use.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in anincontinence diaper of this type in that the closing means which isfurther removed from the hip edge and the associated impact section areeach designed such that, when the diaper is closed, the adhesive bondbetween them is released only by a force which is larger than theadhesive bond between the closing means and its impact section disposedcloser to the hip edge.

The present invention is based on the finding that, in particular withincontinence diapers for adults, i.e. for mobile and also immobileadults needing care, the stresses acting on the closing system furtherremoved from the hip during actual wear are larger than those acting onthe closing system close to the hip. These stresses are tensile forcesacting in the direction of flat extension of the closing system. Theapplicant has discovered this surprising fact through extensive testmeasurements using strain measuring strips distant from and close to thehip, i.e. during wear, in the upper and lower closing systems ofincontinence diapers. The results of such measurements are shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 and are described below.

Consideration of large stresses in the configuration of conventionalincontinence diapers for adults has often resulted in overdimensioningof tapes, tabs, adhesive and/or mechanical closing means, leading toconsumption of large amounts of raw material.

In contrast thereto and in accordance with the present invention, it hasturned out to be sufficient to match the closing system of anincontinence diaper of this type to the maximum stresses in the area ofthe closing means disposed further removed from the hip, and to providea weaker adhesive bond between the closing means and the correspondingimpact section close to the hip. This permits economical and alsoecologically optimized use of raw materials.

In general, the closing means, usually in the form of tapes or tabs,need not be particularly optimized to adopt stresses without beingdamaged. Conventional closing means are generally sufficiently stableand suitable to accept the tensile forces or tensile stresses whichoccur during wear. The main concern is the design of the adhesive bondbetween the closing means and the corresponding impact sections asclaimed and mentioned above, since this adhesive bond could becomedetached in particular load situations. The inventive finding and theinventive suggested configuration of the closing system further improvesincontinence diapers in view of the actual stresses occuring duringwear, and also in view of optimizing consumption of raw materials.

A stronger adhesive bond in the region of the closing means disposeddistant from the hip can be obtained, e.g. in that the closing meansdisposed distant from the hip have an adhesive area which has a largeractive surface than those closer to the hip edge. If the closing meansor the active adhesive area of the closing means and the associatedimpact areas are identical, i.e. the hook and loop material is the sameor the adhesive closing tape material is the same, the larger surface ofthe active adhesive area of the closing means disposed further removedfrom the hip produces a stronger adhesive force than that of the closingmeans disposed close to the hip.

The larger surface of the active adhesive area of the closing meansdisposed further removed from the hip edge is thereby at least 1.2 timesthat, in particular 1.2 to 2 times that and preferably up to maximally1.6 times or 1.5 times that of the active adhesive area of the closingmeans disposed closer to the hip edge.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, thedimensions of the active adhesive area of the closing means disposedfurther removed from the hip edge is larger in the longitudinaldirection of the diaper than the dimensions of the active adhesive areaof the closing means disposed closer to the hip edge, as seen in thislongitudinal direction. Closing tapes or tabs may be used to form theclosing means distant from and close to the hip, or closing means havingan adhesive or mechanically acting active bonding area of differentdimensions in the longitudinal direction of the diaper may be used,wherein their dimensions in the transverse direction of the diaper may,in particular, be the same.

The impact section for the respective closing elements as mentionedabove is to be understood in the broadest possible sense. It may be e.g.the back sheet foil of the incontinence diaper which forms an impactarea for the closing means and must not be characterized in anyparticular manner. It is also feasible to form the respective impactsection for the respective closing means by one single or severalsection(s) of a sheet material, e.g. a hook and loop material or arather smooth material, to form an adhesive bond. The impact sectionsfor the upper and lower closing means may, in particular, be formed on arespective side section of the diaper by one single, continuous impactsection. In a corresponding manner, an impact section could extend fromone side section to the other in a transverse direction which permitslargely variable positioning of the respective closing means in atransverse direction to be able to adjust the incontinence diaper to therespective hip size of a user and to adjust the desired applicationtension.

In accordance with a further embodiment, the dimensions of the activebonding area of the respective closing means in the longitudinaldirection of the diaper substantially correspond to the dimensions ofthis closing means in this direction. An adhesive closing tape couldthereby be provided over the entire tape width (which extends in thelongitudinal direction of the diaper if the tape extends e.g. in atransverse direction of the diaper) with an adhesive coating whichextends over the entire width of the closing tape.

The dimensions of the entire closing means disposed further removed fromthe hip edge are larger in the longitudinal direction of the diaper thanthe dimensions of the closing means disposed closer to the hip edge, asviewed in this direction.

As mentioned above, in the transverse direction of the diaper, thedimensions of the active adhesive area of the closing means disposedfurther removed from the hip edge can correspond substantially to thetransverse dimensions of the active adhesive area of the closing meansdisposed closer to the hip edge. To provide an optically pleasantappearance of the hygiene article, the overall dimensions of therespective closing means are preferably selected to be equal in thetransverse direction of the diaper.

Preferred dimensions of the closing means can be extracted from thedependent claims.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the closingmeans and the associated impact areas are designed such that thereleasing force at which the adhesive bond between the closing meansdisposed further removed from the hip edge and the associated impactsection is at least 45N, wherein this releasing force is measured as amaximum shearing force in a removal test between the closing means andthe impact section. The term shearing force thereby means that theclosing means and the impact section are clamped in a test arrangementin a tensile testing device to be described below and are moved apart ina plane under a withdrawal angle of substantially 0° (to determine thepeeling off force or peel force, the closing means would be removed atan angle of substantially 180° such that the closing means is graduallydetached). In the present determination of the maximum shearing force,the closing means is detached suddenly when the required releasing forcefrom the impact section as simulated by a test substrate, has beenreached.

The above-mentioned releasing force for the closing means disposedfurther removed from the hip and the associated impact section is, inparticular, maximally 105N and preferably between 55 N and 95 N.

The corresponding releasing force of the closing means disposed close tothe hip—again measured as maximum shearing force—is preferably at least38 N. A preferred upper limit is 60 N. The releasing force of apreferred embodiment is between 40N and 55N.

Further features, details and advantages of the invention can beextracted from the claims and the drawing and the following descriptionof measurements of the stress forces of incontinence diapers and of theinventive incontinence diaper in the test set-up to determine thereleasing force. The individual elements of the claims constituteaspects of the current invention independently of their dependencies onother claims.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show forces determined under various conditions of wearwhich occur in the closing system of incontinence diapers;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic plan view of an inventive incontinence diaper;

FIG. 4 shows the test set-up to determine the maximum releasing force.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the test results of tensile forces measured undervarious wear conditions of incontinence diapers for adults in the areaof the closing means. The tests were carried out with two test persons.Large and heavy test persons were selected who were, however, alsoassociated with different physiologies, i.e. rather corpulent or ratherslim. Various wear conditions were simulated. Mobile patients withnormal walking and squatting motions (FIG. 1) were simulated asexemplary motion conditions. A distinction was made between a highdiaper application tension and a low diaper application tension whichcan be varied through tight or rigid closing of the diaper throughcorresponding positioning of the closing elements (FIG. 1 left- andright-hand side). The respective blocks in FIG. 1 show the average valueand the maximum value of the measured force values (tensile forces) forthe upper and lower tape-like closing means, respectively.

It is clear that in both the squatting and walking load situations, theforces measured in the upper closing means disposed close to the hipregion are smaller than those in the lower closing means disposedfurther removed from the hip, for both high as well as low applicationtension.

The tensile forces were measured by integrating strain measuring stripsas special tensile force sensors in the respective tape-shaped closingmeans.

FIG. 2 shows the result of further tensile stress measurements in theclosing system of an incontinence diaper of this type for adults,wherein the average value and the maximum value of a plurality ofmeasurements is shown in different practical situations. These differentpractical situations or wear situations for mobile patients aresimulated i.a. by walking on a flat surface, climbing stairs, bendingdown, squatting, bending forward, lying down, moving back and forth, andstanding up. The practical situations for immobile patients requiringcare which are carried out by a nursing person while the patient ismostly in a prone position are simulated i.a. by bending one or bothlegs, raising the foot portion or upper body portion of a clinical bed,turning the test position to a 30°, 60°, 90° or 135° side position andturning back, changing the bedclothes while the patient remains prone.The respective blocks also show an average value and a maximum value forthe upper (close to the hip) and lower (further removed from the hip)closing means, wherein a differentiation is additionally made betweenthe above-mentioned physiological types (corpulent or slim). These testsalso clearly show that the lower closing system disposed further removedfrom the hip is more loaded than the upper closing system closer to thehip.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a plan view of an inventive incontinencediaper 2 with a rear area 4, a front area 6 and a center or crotch area8 disposed therebetween, and longitudinal side edges 10, 12 of frontarea 6 and rear area 4 and hip edges 14, 16. A relatively narrowabsorptive body 18 is also shown. A closing means 24 close to the hipand a closing means 26 further removed from the hip are disposed at aseparation h of 105mm in longitudinal edge sections 18, 20 of arespective side section 22, 24 of the rear area 4, which are preferablyfolded onto the visible side of the incontinence diaper 2. They can beunfolded to the outside such that they project over the respectivelongitudinal edge 10, 12 in a transverse direction 28 of the diaper 2.They may also be provided entirely within the side sections 22, 24. Alongitudinal direction 30 of the incontinence diaper 2 extendsperpendicular to this transverse direction 28.

The schematically shown closing means 24, 26 may be adhesive ormechanical, e.g. using hook/loop material. They may, in particular, belongitudinal sections of an endless strip or band material supplied in alongitudinal or transverse direction which is disposed in a “cut andplace” method in the rear area 4 of the incontinence diaper 2.

In the present case, the indicated flat extension of the closing means24, 26 may also represent its active adhesive area, i.e. a full-surfaceadhesive coating of the closing means, optionally with a non-coatedgrasping area. The area of this active adhesive area is thereby largerin the closing means 26 disposed further removed from the hip than inthe closing means 24 disposed closer to the hip. In accordance with theinvention, this produces, in particular with closing systems of the samekind, a stronger adhesive bond for the closing means 26 further removedfrom the hip which is released only under a higher releasing force thanthat for the closing means 24 closer to the hip. The adhesive bond isproduced when the diaper 2 is worn by a user and the closing means 24,26 are disposed or pressed onto associated impact areas 32, 34 in thefront area 6 of the diaper. It has proven to be advantageous and simplerto design the respective impact areas 32, 34 in the same manner. Theycan be formed, in particular, from the upper side of a layered materialof the diaper, e.g. of a foil sheet of the diaper, i.e. frompolyethylene or polypropylene. They may also be hook or loop materialdisposed on a diaper side. Explicit reference is made to theabove-mentioned statements about the design of the impact areas. If theclosing means 24, 26 and the associated impact areas 32, 34 are designedto have the same function, the larger flat extension of the closingmeans 26 disposed further removed from the hip produces a strongeradhesive bond, as in the case shown. In other words, in accordance withthe invention, at locations with high stresses, i.e. at the closingmeans 26 disposed further removed from the hip, the closing means and/oractive adhesive areas are sized accordingly, whereas for the closingmeans disposed closer to the hip, closing means or active adhesive areasof smaller dimensions are sufficient. Raw material consumption canthereby be optimized in accordance with the requirements. The varyingdesign of the adhesive bond in accordance with the invention can also beobtained or enhanced in another fashion than by providing closing meansof different sizes or adhesive areas of different sizes for the closingmeans. It would e.g. also be feasible to provide the closing meansdisposed further removed from the hip with a different, strongeradhesive or to design the closing means and/or the associated impactarea to produce a stronger adhesive bond.

A stronger adhesive bond between the closing means 26 disposed furtherremoved from the hip and the associated impact areas 34 is preferablydefined by determining the release forces, measured as shearing forces,which occur in a tensile force test. This is explained below withreference to the test set-up schematically shown in FIG. 4. This testmethod determines the bonding force between tape materials whichsimulate a closing means, and a test substrate which simulates an impactarea. This composite adhesive force is determined using shearing stressin a tensile testing device which is e.g. the schematically indicatedtensile testing device 40 in accordance with EN ISO 527-1 (April 1996)with a fixed clamp 42 and a movable clamp 44 which serves to clamp thetest substrate 46 and the closing means tape 48.

To prepare the sample, the 55 mm wide test substrate 46 is disposed ontoa 55 mm wide steel plate 50 using double-sided adhesive tape 52. Thetest substrate is a section of a conventional diaper back sheet foil,e.g. in the form of a polyethylene foil of a thickness of 21 μm, whichis punched out transverse to the running direction.

The strip-shaped section of the closing means tape 48, which representsthe closing means, is fixed between the legs of a U-shaped holding tape.The section 56, which is disposed in the upper plane, bears an adhesivecoating with a surface density of 38 g/m²±4 g/m². A conventionaladhesive containing an isoprene styrene copolymer is used. Referring tothe figure, the tape 48 is pressed onto the test substrate 46 with anautomatic rolling means using a pressure of 2.0 kg and a speed of 300mm/min (a roller means of the type Viehoever RDG-002-291 can be used forthis purpose).

The steel plate 50, adhesive tape 52 and test substrate 46 composite isthen clamped over a relatively short clamping section into a clamp 42 ofthe tensile testing device and the U-shaped holding tape 54 is clampedinto the other clamp 44. At a removing angle of substantially 0°, i.e.in the plane of the flat material composite, the movable clamp 44 ismoved away from the stationary clamp with a speed of preferably 300mm/min. The tensile force which acts between the clamps is therebymeasured and rounded to two decimals in Newtons thereby stating thesample width, which may preferably be 29 mm. The measured values givenbelow are each average values of six individual measurements, whereindifferently dimensioned areas of the active adhesive bonding wereselected which can be extracted from the following tables. The width ofthe tape 48 extending in a transverse direction 28 of the diaper is 29mm for all measurements. The varying dimensions stated as lengths areoriented in a longitudinal direction 30 in the diaper. One can see fromthe right-hand column that the ratio of extension in the longitudinaldirection 30 (length) of the closing means 24, 25 disposed close to thehip (upper tape) and further removed from the hip (lower tape) isbetween 1.2 and 2.0. This also applies for the ratio of the surface areaof the active adhesive areas. One sees that the measured shearing forceswhich characterize the releasing forces, i.e. that force which rapidlyreleases the adhesive bond, have almost exactly the same ratio.

The method described therefore represents a possibility to definereleasing forces as maximum shearing forces at a removal angle of 0° orto compare releasing forces of different closing means arrangements.length upper length lower ratio between lower tape Example# tape [mm]tape [mm] length/upper tape length 1 25 35 1.4 2 20 28 1.4 3 25 50 2.0 430 42 1.4 5 25 40 1.6 6 25 30 1.2

shearing forces shearing forces ratio between F_(max)* F_(max)* shearforces Example# up · tape[N] low · tape[N] F_(max)* lower/upper tape 148.2 66.5 1.4 2 39.9 55.0 1.4 3 48.2 96.1 2.0 4 57.3 79.0 1.4 5 48.275.2 1.6 6 48.2 57.3 1.2*average value F_(max) values from n = 6 measurements

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A disposable incontinence diaper for adults, thediaper having a front area, a rear area, and a center area disposedbetween the front and rear areas, the center area coming to rest in acrotch region of the user, the diaper comprising: first closing meansdisposed on side sections of the rear or front areas; first impact meansdisposed to cooperate with said first closing means during use of thediaper, said first closing means cooperating with said first impactmeans in an adhesive or mechanical fashion to close the diaper; secondclosing means disposed on side sections of the rear or front areas, saidsecond closing means displaced in a longitudinal direction away fromsaid first closing means to be further removed from a hip edge region ofthe diaper than said first closing means; and second impact meansdisposed to cooperate with said second closing means during use of thediaper, said second closing means cooperating with said second impactmeans in an adhesive or mechanical fashion to close the diaper, whereinsaid second closing means and said second impact means are structuredand dimensioned such that an adhering bond between them when the diaperis closed is only released by a force which is larger that an adheringbonding force between said first closing means and said first impactmeans.
 20. The incontinence diaper of claim 19, wherein said first andsaid second closing means are disposed proximate longitudinal edgesections of the front or rear area.
 21. The incontinence diaper of claim19, wherein said second closing means has a larger active adhering areathan said first closing means.
 22. The incontinence diaper of claim 21,wherein said larger active adhering area of said second closing means isat least 1.2 times an active adhering area of said first closing means.23. The incontinence diaper of claim 22, wherein said larger adheringarea of said second holding means is between 1.2 and 2 times, not morethan 1.6 times, or 1.5 times larger than said active adhering area ofsaid first closing means.
 24. The incontinence diaper of claim 19,wherein, in said longitudinal direction of the diaper, a dimension of anactive adhering area of said second closing means is larger than adimension of an active adhering area of said first closing means. 25.The incontinence diaper of claim 19, wherein, in said longitudinaldirection of the diaper, a respective dimension of an active adheringarea of said first and said second closing means substantiallycorresponds to a respective longitudinal dimension of said first andsaid second closing means.
 26. The incontinence diaper of claim 19,wherein a longitudinal dimension of said second closing means is largerthan a longitudinal dimension of said first closing means.
 27. Theincontinence diaper of claim 19, wherein a dimension of an activeadhering area of said second closing means in a transverse direction ofthe diaper substantially corresponds to a dimension of an activeadhering area of said first closing means in said transverse direction.28. The incontinence diaper of claim 19, wherein, in said longitudinaldirection of the diaper, said second closing means has a dimension of 24to 55 mm and said first closing means has a dimension of 20 to 35 mm.29. The incontinence diaper of claim 28, wherein, in said longitudinaldirection of the diaper, said second closing means has a dimension of 30to 40 mm and said first closing means has a dimension of 20 to 30 mm.30. The incontinence diaper of claim 19, wherein, in said longitudinaldirection, a separation between said first closing means and a hip edgeof the diaper is 10 to 50 mm.
 31. The incontinence diaper of claim 19,wherein, in said longitudinal direction, a separation between said firstand said second closing means is 70 to 150 mm.
 32. The incontinencediaper of claim 19, wherein, as measured in a removal test as a maximumshearing force between said second closing means and said second impactsection, a second force at which an adhering bond between said secondclosing means and said second impact section is released is at least 45N.
 33. The incontinence diaper of claim 32, wherein said second force isnot more than 105 N.
 34. The incontinence diaper of claim 33, whereinsaid second force is between 55 N and 95 N.
 35. The incontinence diaperof claim 19, wherein, as measured in a removal test as a maximumshearing force between said first closing means and said first impactsection, a first force at which an adhering bond between said firstclosing means and said first impact section is released is at least 38N.
 36. The incontinence diaper of claim 35, wherein said first force isnot more than 60 N.
 37. The incontinence diaper of claim 36, whereinsaid first force is between 40 N and 55 N.